


Angel of Death

by HisTwenty7Tattoos



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Angel of Death Zayn, Bullying, F/M, Kidnapping, M/M, Mentions of Death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2020-09-23 21:34:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20347075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HisTwenty7Tattoos/pseuds/HisTwenty7Tattoos
Summary: I saw a prompt on writing.prompt.s on Instagram and couldn't help but write it."Unbeknownst to you, death was watching from the corner of the hospital room when you were being born. Fascinated by life, it imprinted on you. As the years went by, death saw you often being bullied at school and couldn’t do anything but watch, as taking the life of your bullies would have been too much of a verdict. However, you have just been kidnapped and death is pissed."





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've never been in a hospital room while someone is giving birth, so I used my imagination a little bit. I edited this myself so I apologize for any mistakes!

He was there for the mom. Her health was rapidly declining, although yet undetectable to the medical team in the room, and Zayn hadn’t had anywhere else to be, taking the opportunity to wait patiently and watch the humans work. It was supposed to be an exciting time for the family, but little did they know that this child would be her last. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be there to see her baby boy grow. In the midst of all the chaos, Zayn stays silent watching. His job requires him to deal with death, escorting his victims on their journey into the afterlife, but he enjoys occasionally seeing the blessing of life unfold.

Suddenly, a loud, sharp cry breaks from the crowd of nurses, doctors, and families. At first, Zayn can’t see the child as he’s being rushed into another room. Minutes pass until he’s finally carried back in and passed to the mother so the couple can see the newest addition to their family. From Zayn’s perch in the corner, he sees the baby perfectly. He’s unimaginably small, bundled in a blanket with his fists clenched. His eyes crack open and briefly he takes in the small world of the hospital room. The baby’s eyes connect with Zayn’s briefly, and most people can’t see Death, but babies and animals often are the exception to that rule. Suddenly, when their eyes meet, Zayn’s world shifts. He’s inexplicably drawn toward the tiny human, everything now depending on this child and keeping him safe. Zayn’s never experienced anything like it, but he knows he’ll do anything in his power to watch over the child. He has to, Zayn won’t survive if anything happens to him.

In the middle of his revelation is when it happens. The monitors sound their alarm and the medical team reacts instantly. The baby is taken from the mom and pushed into the dad’s hands and they’re both bustled into the corner of the room to give the doctors the space they need. Zayn watches on, this being one of the more disorderly deaths he’s seen in a while. He knows how this ends though, and he observes the small child from across the room as the scene plays out in front of him. Despite the efforts of the doctors, though, the woman’s spirit sits up in a panic. Zayn gives her time to realize what has happened before he makes his presence known.

He clears his throat, and that’s when she acknowledges him in the corner. After another pause, she speaks, “I guess this is it then?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“And who are you? A young gentleman like yourself shouldn’t be dead already, should he?”

She’s right, Zayn had died young, but his soul is old and it’s been years since he’s thought about his death and his acquisition as the personification of death. “It looks like we both came to an unfortunate end. I’m sorry that you won’t get to see him grow up along with your daughters.” And most people don’t engage him in this sort of conversation, it’s often a quiet job, but this woman is open and different and Zayn has no problem taking his time with this job.

She looks back where her husband and newborn son are still in the corner, takes in the medical team as they still fight for her life, before turning back to Zayn. “Yes, love, I suppose we have. What are you here for then?”

“I’m Death, and whenever you’re ready, I’m here to escort you in your passing.”

“Now, love, is that what I’m supposed to call you? Death? Or do you have another name?”

This throws him, it’s rare that people acknowledge him as a person rather than some feared entity. “Zayn. You can call me Zayn, if you’d like.”

She nods. Eventually, she exits the bed and leaves her body behind. She moves toward her husband and son without their knowledge, simply looking at them, and then inquires, “Will I be able to see them? Once I leave.”

This gives Zayn pause; he can’t speak intelligently about this. “I, uh… I don’t know exactly. I’ve never been to where you’re headed. I can’t… I can’t move on and I don’t know why…” he trails off.

She looks back at this, hesitates, and it’s as if she understands something he doesn’t, but she says nothing. After stealing another look back at her family, she turns fully toward Zayn, nods, runs her hands over her shirt as if smoothing away wrinkles, and motions for Zayn to exit the room with her. He follows, of course, with his hands in his pockets and joins her side once they’re in the hallway. They exit the hospital and walk quite a ways before their conversation resumes.

“His name is Liam. That’s what we decided on.” Zayn gives her a quick glance to show he’s listening but makes no move to speak. She continues with a proud smile this time, “He was our last shot at having a boy and it worked in our favor. Geoff was so excited when he found out we’d be having a boy.”

Zayn doesn’t know what to say immediately so he takes a moment before admitting, “He’s lovely. It was nice to see the happier part of the life cycle this time, too.”

She nods and they walk on and finally they make it to their destination. She knows they’ve arrived, but she doesn’t just continue like the others. She turns and faces Zayn, pondering for a while before sending him off with her kind words. “Thank you, Zayn. It was nice having someone to accompany me. There’s a reason you can’t move on, love, I’m sure of it. And I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” And Zayn has no other reason to believe other than she seems so wise. By far she’s one of the calmest to deal with her unexpected death; she simply carries an air of knowing around with her. With a final smile, she turns and walks away. The motherly interaction leaves him feeling heavy, but he knows how to fix it now. He’s not needed, has no one to escort right now, so he turns and heads back to the hospital to see the boy. Liam.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something has happened to Liam, so Zayn decides to take matters into his own hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this by myself, so sorry for any mistakes!

When he arrives back to the hospital that first night it’s hard to see the father mourning. His daughters are still too young to fully grasp what happened, and the toll of not having them comprehend is obvious on his face. Albeit selfish, Zayn doesn’t dwell too long to see more. He enters the room where the infants are cared for and makes his way to Liam’s side. He’s a small baby, small enough that they are keeping him for observation for a few weeks, and Zayn plans on spending all his free time watching over the infant. The instant he reaches Liam’s side, the baby’s large brown eyes meet his. Zayn’s heart tugs at the sight, a long-lost feeling of affection making itself known. He stays there until the baby drifts off to sleep, and a new feeling of purpose settles itself in his bones.

That’s how it continues. In between escorting people to the afterlife, Zayn finds himself gravitating back to Liam. He’s there as the family mourns the loss of Liam’s mother, and he’s there as Geoff struggles to raise his children without his spouses help. It astounds Zayn how Liam’s father pushes through his remorse. He’s a fearless guide throughout the day, taking pride in the things he’s learned in order to teach his daughters, things he’d always imagined Karen taking the lead with. He also takes satisfaction in seeing Liam right next to his sisters, observing quietly and giving just as much attention to those lessons as he does to other skills he learns from his dad. By night, Zayn hears Geoff break just a little, sparing the scene from his children. Geoff’s gotten in the habit of telling Karen about their children’s days in the hopes she hears him from wherever she’s gone. Zayn hopes she can hear him, hopes she’s smiling as she listens about her kids’ lives.

As most of his nights go, Zayn spends his unclaimed time watching Liam. He’s often enraptured watching Liam’s bedtime routine, seeing him arrange his favorite stuffed animal next to him on the pillow and watching as Geoff turns out the light as he leaves the bedroom. Hearing Liam’s breaths slow as he drifts off to sleep calms him to no end, and he curses the nights when he’s interrupted with an assignment to escort someone. He remains unbothered tonight, but he’s startled once the lights go out to hear sniffles coming from the boy’s bed rather than the steady sounds of sleep. He listens with concern, doesn’t know what could have possible caused this, but calms once the broken sounds turn into the familiar sounds of sleep. Puzzled, Zayn considers the cause of change in the boy’s demeanor, before he’s called to escort someone a few towns over.

Days pass, and sporadically Zayn hears the unsettling sounds of crying before Liam drifts off. Evermore stumped by Liam’s mood, Zayn decides to extend his observation of Liam in the hopes of finding a cause. It’s not until a few days later, though, that Zayn finds himself in luck with his free time and Liam’s schedule. Liam is at recess, and Zayn can see him squatted near the field where a few kids are playing soccer. Something holds his attention, so Liam doesn’t hear the other eight year olds come up behind him. The biggest kid, the leader of sorts, snatches whatever it is Liam is focused on, and once the boy pulls it into their air with a grip on its wings Zayn identifies it to be a butterfly.

Liam stands abruptly. “Hey, put it back on the ground!”

The other child smirks and taunts, “You want me to put it back?” With a wry smile, he lowers the butterfly back on the ground, watches it inch forward for a second, and then brings his foot down on top of it. He removes it and steps back to see the butterfly crumpled into the ground.

Zayn can see Liam’s fury from where he’s standing by the fence. Liam’s face grows red with anger while his voice shakes with sadness, “Why’d you kill it?” His anger must win out in the end though, because he quickly adds, “You’re a bully. That butterfly was minding his own business and you killed it.”

The eight year old takes offence to the name, and quick as can be, shoves Liam backwards and then jumps on him as he lands in the grass. The scuffle only lasts a few seconds before the teachers break them apart and escort them inside, but Zayn feels his blood boil. Liam, sweet Liam, wasn’t bothering anyone, simply lost in his own world with this butterfly, and was interrupted by another kid simply to cause a scene. Just as he’s debating his options for retaliation against the bully, he’s called to escort someone. He leaves reluctantly and tries to calm himself before facing a possibly scared soul, but knows it does nothing for his mood.

Zayn is kept busy the rest of the day, and only has time to rejoin Liam a few minutes before bed. He finds Liam crying into his father’s shoulder while Geoff is desperately trying to explain to Liam that not all kids have his heart and compassion for other living things. Zayn watches and wonders why he’s so torn apart seeing Liam cry, but takes comfort in seeing Geoff cuddle the boy until he’s sleeping. It’s staved off the quite sniffles Zayn hears late into the night, and he’s relieved to hear Liam’s soft snores earlier than expected.

~

Zayn hates himself for not being able to help Liam as he grows up and deals with the more aggressive kids around him, but he feels death is a punishment too severe. Or more accurately, he doesn’t want to find out what kinds of punishments will await him for taking the lives of the children that hurt Liam. Some incidents are worse than others. When Liam is 13 a girl mocks him in the hallways for admitting his crush on her, and Zayn restrains himself barely as he sees Liam slip away to hide in the boys’ bathroom. The kids tease him for weeks, but it’s nothing compared to what happens a few years later. Liam is 16, standing outside his school waiting for his dad to come get him when an older boy stalks up behind him. Suddenly, Liam’s math textbook, the one that’s too big to fit in his backpack, is smacked to the ground and there’s someone crowding in front of his face.

“Liam, our favorite little fairy, how are you buddy?” the boy sneers. His two friends stand behind Liam, not yet threating, but there if Liam tries to get away.

Zayn hasn’t seen Liam a lot in the past few days, so he’s instantly alarmed at the aggressive display. He hears Liam mumble weakly, “Mike leave me alone,” but the other boy hears the insecurity and bites at it.

“Oh come on Liam, I’m just trying to make some polite conversation.” However, he accompanies his statement with a hard shove and Liam barely maintains his balance. Mike advances quickly and before Liam fully recovers he’s being shoved back against the school building with Mike’s fists clenched threateningly in the collar of Liam’s shirt. Zayn watches in distress, nearly failing to remind himself why he’s agreed not to claim the kids that plague Liam at school.

Just as the boy’s hands inch closer to Liam’s throat and panic enters Liam’s expression, there’s a shout, “Hey asshole, let him go!”

And Zayn feels a flood of composure as he sees Niall, flanked by Louis and Harry, charging toward the scene. Mike releases Liam just as Niall arrives and Niall grabs him and pushes him back by Louis and Harry so he’s protected from the bullies.

“Okay, Nialler. We were just having a bit of a chat with him. No harm done.”

Niall knows this is a lie just as much as Zayn does, but Zayn is thankful Niall lets it go and spares Liam from further confrontation. “Yeah, just a bit of a chat. Fuck off.”

Both groups part and Zayn settles even further as he sees Liam’s dad pulling into the lot. Liam makes his way to the passenger seat and as he closes his door Niall rests his arms on the side of the car and leans down to look through the open window. Zayn’s needed for another escort, one that will keep him occupied all night, a large building has caught fire a few towns over, but before Zayn leaves he watches the quick interaction.

“Hi Mr. Payne,” Niall smiles charmingly, “was wondering if Liam could come over to mine tonight. Louis and Harry are coming and we were just planning to watch some scary movies and stuff.”

Although Niall’s doing his best to win Geoff over, it’s not necessary. Geoff has taken a liking to Liam’s friends and simply replies, “As long as he’s got an invite he’s allowed over whenever.”

“Thanks Mr. Payne. We’ll see you later Liam!”

So Liam returns home to eat and does the dishes with his sisters before sneaking off to grab his backpack and a few other things. He shouts a quick goodbye and walks down the street to Niall’s house. It’s early the next morning that Liam decides to walk back to his house to get a few hours of proper sleep in his own bed. His dad has planned a day for him and his sisters to go see their grandparents a few hours away, and he knows he’ll be crabby if he doesn’t. It’s a quiet walk back and it’s just started getting light out when an unfamiliar car stops beside Liam.

~

Zayn’s just finished escorting people all night and into the morning and exhaustion is pulling at the corners of his mind. He has no need for sleep, hasn’t for years, but he thinks if he did that’s exactly what he’d be doing. As it is, he knows his fatigue will wear off in a couple of hours and he’ll be back to normal. He makes his way to Liam’s house. Even though he knows Liam spent the night at Niall’s, he’ll be coming back soon. Zayn’s heard Liam’s dad talking about a trip that requires them to leave at 9. He arrives at the house and realizes pretty quickly that something isn’t right.

“He knows we’re meant to leave at 9. It’s 8:45 and he hasn’t even come back to shower yet,” Geoff booms as he comes down the stairs.

“I’ll give him a call, Dad,” Ruth offers. She dials his phone, but quickly turns back to Geoff, “It went straight to voicemail. Why does he have his phone off?”

Annoyed at the delay, Geoff grabs his own phone and dials Niall’s house. Niall’s dad answers after a few rings. “Hello?”

“Hi Bobby, it’s Geoff, Liam’s dad. Could you tell him he needs to get home? We’re supposed to leave to visit family soon.” Geoff can hear Bobby talking to someone in the background before coming back to the phone.

“Yeah, um, Niall said he heard Liam sneak out quite early this morning. He should be home already.”

Zayn can hear the conversation from where he’s sitting on the steps, and he feels as if someone’s just drenched him in cold water. Geoff must feel the same because he pales where he’s standing with his phone and it takes a while before he remembers he’s expected to respond.

“Right, well he’s… he’s not here yet.” He hesitates in his disbelief, suddenly not know what to do. Where would Liam be if he’s not at Niall’s or here?

Bobby must sense his panic because he brings Geoff back to focus with, “Alright, the boys and I are going to come out and walk the neighborhood then. We’ll start looking. You’re sure he’s not in his room?”

“I’ll double check,” Geoff mutters, “Bobby, what do I do if he’s not there?”

“You call the police. They boys and I will be over soon.”

Zayn’s mind is racing and he feel’s shaky. Before Geoff even sets down the phone, Zayn has made it to Liam’s room. The bed is made and there’s absolutely no way he’s here. Zayn’s hands start to tremble and not a second later he hears Geoff scrambling around the room and coming to the same conclusion that Zayn already has. Geoff is walking back down the stairs, already dialing another number on his phone while Zayn stays frozen in shock. He needs to know where Liam is.

When he makes it back down the stairs, Geoff is on the phone desperately trying to explain all that he knows to the police, and Ruth and Nicola are sobbing hysterically. Bobby, Niall, Harry, and Louis show up not long after, obviously shaken, and the police arrive moments later. It’s a frenzy of information, questions, crying, and hysterics, but amongst all the disarray Zayn hears one word that sticks out. It comes from the officer talking to Geoff- “kidnapped.” It’s only a possibility at this point, but it leads Zayn to do two things: one he’s never done before, and a second he’s only done one other time as the Angel of Death.

Zayn summons him and the other angel arrives quicker than expected. Paul shows up beside him without a single emotion shown on his figure, not yet knowing why he’s been called. Paul is only to be called when there are troubles with escorts, but over the years he’s taken a liking to Zayn and the efficiency with which he does his job.

“Paul, tell me where he is.”

“Where who is?”

Zayn, already exasperated because he’s sure Paul knows where Zayn has been spending his free time for the last 16 years, replies with the most respectful tone he’s capable of right now. “Liam. Where is Liam? The boy I’ve been watching over in my free time. I know you know where he is. I need to know.” And as polite as Zayn is trying to be, he knows the urgency he feels in his whole being is seeping into his voice.

Paul regards him for a moment. There’s nothing saying he shouldn’t be giving this information to Zayn, but Zayn isn’t exactly privy to it either. “He was taken today while walking back to his house. A car pulled up next to him and took him.”

“Where? Took him where?” The hysterics rising in Zayn’s voice with every passing second.

Paul begins to caution, “Zayn, you know you shouldn’t be interfering in these matters…”

Then, Zayn reaches his tipping point, “I know! I know the rules, Paul! I know my job! Tell me where his is!”

Zayn must imagine the smirk creeping up on Paul’s face, but doesn’t dwell too long on its meaning because he hears, “The abandoned apartments downtown. His kidnappers seem to think Geoff will be able to award them a nice fee for his return.”

Zayn barely hears the last part as he exits, but getting to Liam is the most important thing on his mind. He makes it to his dwelling, one he hasn’t been to in decades, and then? Then, Zayn does something he hasn’t done in years.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zayn goes to get Liam back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I edited this myself.

It hurts. Zayn’s bones feel like they’re burning together, molding into something solid again. His skeleton is shifting and cracking and making way as the new structures solidify at different times. Then, it suddenly gets worse. His skin begins to congeal and with it, the fire in his body is rapidly cooling. He’s shivering, feeling like he’s been submerged in a bath of ice. Once again he’s burning, but this time it’s his nerves being frozen. He tries to grab at a particularly painful spot on his neck and grinds his teeth together even harder, the pain of his own touch immediately sending a live-wire shock through his body. His back arches with the sear of it and he starts to pant. He waits it out and realizes later that the pain is lessening.

It’s not over yet, but at least he’s numb with the cold of it. The worst is over but he still has to thaw now. He hates the thawing even a bit more, he thinks. The fire and ice of his body materializing is sharp and quick, so intense that he’s actively being distracted by each new sensation. The thaw is slow, long as can be but hardly changing moment to moment. Where his nerves are now numb, they’ll eventually warm and start to work again. Along with the heat of the temperature change, he knows he’ll be feeling the residual pain of his shift. He’s still hot at the center and cold at the surface, and as soon as his body can distinguish that his pain will kick in again.

He begins to shiver. He knows he looks pathetic, crumbled in a ball on the floor, holding his jaw set as he shakes. But the shivering means he’s close to being done. Well not fully done, he’ll be feeling his materialization for the next few hours, but it won't be so immobilizing. As the shivering subsides and his body feels more at an equilibrium- not so burning hot on the inside and frozen on the outside- he steels himself with one more breathe and then makes his way steadily to his feet. His nerves are still overactive in each new feeling, registering each step on the floor as a touch to an ember, but his change already took away too much time and he needs to get to Liam. Although it felt like eternity, he knows it’s only taken 15-20 minutes.

He has a few clothes in his dwelling, stuff from the previous guy who did this job, and something that he acquired the last time he took this form; he opts for the second choice. He was naïve and new to the job when he got this, still reeling over his new responsibility. Of course he had taken the description seriously, he was the personification of death, so of course he got something all black. He pulls it on, black dress pants and the black dress shirt to match. He settles for the black tie and shoes he got to match, each additional layer lighting sparks on his skin as it still works to settle into its form. Once he’s dressed, he apparates right outside the apartment building that Paul mentioned. He takes a steadying breath- he’s not a confrontational person, but he knows how to act the part- and swings the doors open.

The lobby is old and ratty with disuse. Zayn knows some of the homeless people in the town come here for shelter at night, but everything is eerily silent. He doesn’t know exactly where they’ve taken Liam, but he supposes they’ve staked out one of the rooms and he silently searches through the floor. Upon reaching the room at the end of the hall he hears a group of people talking.

“Have you made the first contact yet?”

“Yes, I told you already. I called their house phone when the police were there. I told them we have the kid and we’ll call back once we’ve decided what we want from them. Let them panic a little, ya know?”

Zayn can tell the door isn’t locked, so he steels himself once again for what he’s about to do. He relaxes his face, schooling himself to give a bored expression, then flings the door open. He strides in, turns his back to the people in the room, closes it calmly, and then turns. They have their guns drawn on him already and he can tell that they feel panicked despite their weaponless opponent. Zayn knows why. He looks like a human, sure, but he knows something is off-putting about him still. He has a dark aura in general- pale skin with heavy tattoos from before he died, inky dark hair, and the black outfit he put on before he left- but something else adds to his appearance. He knows he’s unsettling for humans to be around, remembers from the last time he did this, but he doesn’t know what causes it. Death seems to radiate through his being and into the world around him. And his eyes. He remembers the notion of eyes being the window into the soul from when he was still alive, and it’s definitely true for him now. His eyes are deep, hollow at the surface but giving an air of experience the longer someone stairs into them. He’s tried to hold his stare with people before, from the first time he did this, but it was astounding to see the number of people that couldn’t meet his eyes for more than a second. He thinks all the death he sees shows on his face.

He realizes they’re shouting at him and he hasn’t been paying attention, a mantra of “what the fuck do you think you’re doing here” and “get out or we’ll shoot.” He holds his hand up to get them to stop, slowly meets eyes with the two people yelling at him, and then taunts, “You can shoot me if you want, but I promise it won’t do anything. I’ve stopped being mortal a long time ago,” he lowers his hand but continues in a diplomatic voice, “You have something I want, and unless I get him unharmed, I’ll personally make sure you’re escorted to the gates of Hell.” He makes out the other person in the room, blindfolded and gagged in the corner on the floor, as the other two in front of him quickly glance at each other and back toward him, guns still raised.

The guy on the right, obviously the one in charge with the air of confidence he carries, addresses Zayn then. And although he tries for menacing, he has a slight tremble in his voice as he mocks, “I don’t know buddy, a little bit of lead through the heart seems to do it for most people.”

“Yes,” Zayn concedes, “when they’re humans.”

The guys eyebrows crease, and Zayn sees the moment he makes up his mind. The shot is loud in the otherwise small room, and Zayn sees Liam’s reflex reaction to cover his ears from his spot in the corner. It’s followed by two more when the guy notices that Zayn is still standing. Zayn glances down and sees no trace of the shots on his body, and when he raises his head back towards the men in the room his face carries a dangerous look. His mouth is tilted up at one end with a smirk and his eyes are crinkled with amusement. In contrast, the two people in front of him have their eyebrows at their hairline and their mouths parted in shock. Zayn can nearly taste the fear that’s shown in their eyes.

He decides to play with them a little longer before he ends this. “I tried to be honest with you, Jacob and Oliver, I did. I warned you. Why didn’t you trust me?”

The fear on their face is unmistakable now, tangible in the air at being identified. Zayn likes showing off his party tricks now and then. He especially likes to see the terror it’s brought to the two in front of him, the ones that took Liam. Zayn’s expression darkens and then he stalks forward. They try shooting a few more times and Zayn keeps to one side of the room so their bullets don’t hit Liam in the cross fire. He doesn’t kill them, but they won’t be moving for a while. He looks down to where they’re huddled on the floor. They’re breathing is shallow but they’ll survive. Zayn looks forward to meeting them again in the future. In the silence of his observations, Zayn hears a sniffle in the corner, and turns to face Liam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in the chapter, grad school is demanding. Yay for winter break! I'm hoping for at least one more update before the semester starts.


End file.
